A Seance at Syd’s – An Anthology of Acid-Haunt-Folk-Psych-Prog- Kraut-Radiophonic-Garage-Space Etcetera is…

A hardback, paperback and/or an e-book-shaped collection of words, wit and wisdom from some eighty different bands, performers, artists and label heads, heralds of and spokesmen for the sprawling mass of musical notions that have made this decade so unexpectedly enthralling

Forget all the doom and gloom that surrounds the music industry of today; forget the epitaphs that are written almost every day; and forget the widespread insistence that we’ve never had it so bad. Behind all those words, the modern music scene is actually pretty darned healthy.

No longer the Anglo-American hegemony that once held all the cards, contemporary music now drip feeds its sonics from every corner of the globe. This book interviews musicians from Portugal, France, Germany, Finland, Spain, Italy and Sweden, releasing their music in a variety of formats and across a wealth of platforms.

Once, the major labels held all-consuming sway, swatting aside any upstart indies that might challenge their dominance as though they were less than gnats. Today, it’s the majors who are the endangered species, as bands prove they don’t even need record labels any more.

Self releasing through Bandcamp, spotlighting on the Active Listener, financing via Kickstarter… those three sites (and they are by no means alone) could keep you discovering new music for the rest of your life. Broadcasting on Melmoth the Wanderer, delighting through Fruits de Mer, and gigging in the places where it actually matters, this is the sound of 2015.